Titre : What can we learn from Tesla Motor’s patents about its IP strategy? Auteurs : Marc Baudry, Béatrice Dumont, Revue : Technology and Innovation Numéro : Issue 4 Volume : 5 Date : 2020/09/18 DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2020.0563 ISSN : 2399-8571 Résumé : The Tesla patent pledge is a particularly interesting case study. It corresponds to a strategy of opening up its patent portfolio by a new company, which has invested in an already highly concentrated sector by targeting a specific market, that of the all-electric vehicle, by the top of the range. The analysis of the patents shows that Tesla is both very little involved in upstream R&D cooperation, at least as far as it is possible to judge by the firm’s co-patents compared to those of its competitors, and at the heart of the technological classes where it patents, judging by the significantly higher number of citations received by its patents. These elements argue in favour of an interpretation in terms of Tesla’s search for technological leadership. This interpretation is supported by Tesla’s vertical integration. According to this interpretation, the patent pledge is a means of bringing competitors into line with Tesla’s technical solutions in order for Tesla to take advantage of network externalities and economies of scale and thus lower its costs to impose its technology on the market for all-electric vehicles. Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience